How to Read Literature Like a Professor Chapter 11-15

Chapter 11

..More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning Violence
Present examples of the two kinds of violence found in literature. Show how the effects are different.

An example of specific violence is in The Hunger Games when the Careers kill off the weak. The Hunger Games is filled with other specific violence such as when Rue is stabbed by another contender.

An example of authorial violence is in The Fault in Our Stars where Hazel has cancer which there is only a cure in some cases.

Specific violence differs from authorial by being more for shock while authorial effects the plot. In The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel’s cancer is the what drives the novel, while in The Hunger Games the deaths are causalities.

Chapter 12

— Is That a Symbol?
Use the process described on page 106 and investigate the symbolism in something we have read this year (short story or novel).

In The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, the world that the two daughters of Eve and two sons of Adam end up in represents the battle between good and evil or Satan and God. When Aslan is stabbed on the stone table is represents Christ dying on the cross and resurrecting when he is saving his people.

Chapter 13

 It’s All Political
Assume that Foster is right and “it is all political.” Use his criteria to show that one of the major works assigned to you this year is political.

Animal Farm is considered political and represents the Russian Revolution. “If you have your lower animals to contend with,” he said, “we have our lower classes!” is a quote serves to emphasize directly the significance of Animal Farm as a social commentary, cementing the conceptual link between the enslaved animals and the working classes of the world.

Chapter 14

Yes, She’s a Christ Figure, Too
Apply the criteria on page 119 to a major character in a significant literary work. Try to choose a character that will have many matches. This is a particularly apt tool for analyzing film — for example, Star Wars, Cool Hand Luke, Excalibur, Malcolm X, Braveheart, Spartacus, Gladiator and Ben-Hur.

In The Hunger Games, Katniss is the Christ like figure where she is in agony, self- sacrificing, and spent time alone because of the games that President Snow(the devil figure) gladly lets take place.

Chapter 15

Flights of Fancy
Select a literary work in which flight signifies escape or freedom. Explain in detail.

In Peter Pan, Peter sprinkles fairy dust and flies off to Neverland. This represents freedom by the children being free from the real world and holding on to their childhood.